Uber settles Waymo lawsuit, promises not to use Waymo's trade secrets

Waymo’s lawsuit against Uber over alleged self-driving technology theft came to a surprising conclusion Friday as both sides announced they’ve settled the dispute. The court case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Alsup on what would have been day five of legal proceedings.

Per the settlement, Waymo will receive a 0.34 percent equity stake in Uber which amounts to roughly $245 million at a valuation of $72 billion. Furthermore, the ride-hailing specialist promised not to use Waymo’s trade secrets.

As one source familiar with the settlement told The Verge, it means Waymo is now invested in Uber’s future – an odd predicament considering the two are rivals in the autonomous driving space. For what it’s worth, Alphabet (Waymo's parent company) led a $1 billion financing round in ride-hailing service Lyft back in October.

As Axios highlights, Friday could have been the day that the man at the center of the dispute, former Google and Uber self-driving engineer Anthony Levandowski, took the stand. Now we may never know what he had to say on the matter.

It’s also worth noting that Waymo’s equity stake in Uber came at a valuation of $72 billion. That’s much higher than the $48 billion valuation SoftBank recently purchased Uber shares at.